National and state standards call for students to engage in authentic scientific inquiry. We all remember learning the five steps of the "Scientific Method" and doing "labs" in school. Is this what we're supposed to be doing as teachers? This page gathers resources that explain what classroom inquiry is supposed to be and points you resources that will help you incorporate inquiry into your teaching.
What is Classroom Inquiry?
EDC 430 Classroom Inquiry Jigsaw - Each year, EDC 430 students examine the subject of classroom inquiry and add their knowledge to a growing resource. This page combines all of the individual question/answers into a single page that explores different dimensions of classroom inquiry.
Inquiry in the National Science Education Standards - Inquiry is a the center of the National Science Education Standards. This is a link to the NSES companion text about teaching inquiry.
Resources to Support Inquiry in the Classroom
Inquiry-Rich Curriculum- One of the reasons that classroom inquiry is so rare is that facilitating student investigations is challenging for teachers. Several curriculum resources have been developed to help teachers incorporate student investigations into their teaching.
Features of Scientific Inquiry
Scientific Inquiry can be defined as a student-driven exploration of phenomena which utilizes critical thinking and scientific processing to further develop knowledge and understanding on how the world works. Fueled by curiosity, students assume the role of scientists by making observations, questioning phenomena, selecting a statement to test, designing an experiment, collecting data and communicating their findings.
Teaching High School Science through Inquiry: An inquiry model combined with a bulleted list detailing what an inquiry classroom looks like including the roles of both the teacher and student during inquiry learning. This could be a useful tool for creating lesson plans
A Scientist's model of Inquiry: Another version of inquiry suggested by an actual scientist which takes classroom inquiry one step further by emphasizing the amount of time spent on investigation and incorporating time for trial & error.
Introduction
National and state standards call for students to engage in authentic scientific inquiry. We all remember learning the five steps of the "Scientific Method" and doing "labs" in school. Is this what we're supposed to be doing as teachers? This page gathers resources that explain what classroom inquiry is supposed to be and points you resources that will help you incorporate inquiry into your teaching.What is Classroom Inquiry?
Resources to Support Inquiry in the Classroom
Features of Scientific Inquiry
Scientific Inquiry can be defined as a student-driven exploration of phenomena which utilizes critical thinking and scientific processing to further develop knowledge and understanding on how the world works. Fueled by curiosity, students assume the role of scientists by making observations, questioning phenomena, selecting a statement to test, designing an experiment, collecting data and communicating their findings.